150 THE AGRARIAN CRUSADE 



swept the field with the assistance of the Demo- 

 crats. In South Dakota and Nebraska, where 

 there was no fusion, the Democratic vote was 

 negligible and the Populists ran a close second to 

 the Republicans. 



That the tide of agrarianism was gradually flow- 

 ing westward as the frontier advanced is apparent 

 from the election returns in the States bordering on 

 the upper Mississippi. Iowa and Missouri, where 

 the Alliance had been strong, experienced none of 

 the landslide which swept out the Republicans in 

 States further west. In Minnesota the Populists, 

 with a ticket headed by the veteran Donnelly, ran 

 a poor third in the state election, and the entire 

 Harrison electoral ticket was victorious in spite 

 of the endorsement of four Populist candidates by 

 the Democrats. In the northwestern part of the 

 State, however, the new party was strong enough 

 to elect a Congressman over candidates of both 

 the old parties. In no Northern State east of 

 the Mississippi were the Populists able to make a 

 strong showing ; but in Illinois, the success of John 

 P. Altgeld, the Democratic candidate for governor, 

 was due largely to his advocacy of many of the 

 measures demanded by the People's party, particu- 

 larly those relating to labor, and to the support 



